The Little Bird
by LyricalSinger
Summary: A little bird leads Hunith to the realization of just how special young Merlin truly is. Many thanks to my beta, sarajm, for some excellent comments.


The Little Bird

The small, tousled-haired lad was playing in the dust just outside the hut. Merlin had turned four years old the week previous and he was now allowed to venture, albeit only slightly, out from under his Mother's watchful eye. Hunith had told him, however, that he was not to wander off and Merlin was determined to obey his mother.

But, as usually happens, fate stepped in. Young Merlin was engrossed in his play - he was building a fort from the small rocks that littered the edge of the road - when he heard a loud yowling coming from around the back of the hut. He head shot up and he impatiently pushed his curls out of his eyes with a filthy hand, leaving a long smudge of dirt across his forehead.

It sounded like one of the village stray cats had caught something. Merlin knew he wasn't supposed to leave his mother's sight, but he wanted – no _needed_ – to see what was going on! A quick glance though the open door showed Hunith busy at the small table kneading some bread dough.

"Well," thought Merlin, with all the logic of a four-year-old, "Mama isn't watching me right now, and I'm only going around the house." So he quickly got to his feet, left his half-finished fort and took off at a run around the hut. His sudden appearance at the corner of the house startled the cat, so much so that it immediately dropped what it had in its mouth and scampered off towards the woods.

Merlin was watching the cat run away when a small movement in the grass caught his attention. He carefully tip-toed over to the rustling grass, not wanting to further frighten whatever it was the cat had dropped. As he approached, he heard a faint chirp and looking down saw a tiny bird, bloodied and with an obviously broken wing, struggling to get on its feet and get away. It was a robin, but it was so small; even though it had all its feathers, it couldn't have been out of the nest for more than a couple of days.

"Shhh, shhh, it's okay," whispered Merlin as he knelt in the grass near the injured bird. He couldn't just leave it here; the cat might come back. Merlin knew he had to rescue the poor creature somehow, but what to do?

"Mama can help," he thought to himself, so he gently grasped the bird in his little hands and held it close to his chest. "It's all right, little birdie. I'm going to take you to Mama, she'll know how to fix you," murmured Merlin as he rose to his feet and very slowly and carefully walked back towards the door of the hut.

The bird lay very still in Merlin's hands, its eyes were closed and its chest was hardly rising and falling. He knew the bird was injured very badly, but had faith that Hunith would know what to do.

As he came around the side of the hut, Merlin looked up from his hands and saw his mother standing in the doorway, with her hands on her hips and a very stern look on her face.

"Merlin! I thought I told you not to wander away from here!"

"I know, Mama. I'm sorry, but I heard a cat and he caught a bird, but I scared him away and the bird is hurt and can you help it?" the little tyke said in one great breath.

Hunith could see how anxious her son was. He was standing before her with tears in his eyes and his small hands gently cradling the poor little bird.

"Oh, Merlin," sighed Hunith. "Well, come along. Bring it inside."

As they entered the hut, Hunith found a small scrap of cloth which she laid on the table. "Here, darling, put the bird on the cloth and I'll take a look."

Merlin very carefully laid the tiny robin on the table and looked up at his mother beseechingly. "Can you help it?" he queried in a small voice.

"Well, let's take a look and see what we can do," answered Hunith.

But it was too late. The damage the cat had done was too great and the robin was so small and delicate that it just couldn't survive the harm inflicted to it. Merlin looked at the bird, looked at his mother, and said, with tears running down his dirty cheeks, "It's gone, Mama. It's gone. I was too late."

"Oh, my little love, I'm so sorry," said Hunith as she gathered her son into her arms and gently ran her hand over his head. "But the bird was injured so badly, I don't think we could have done anything to help it get better."

Merlin sniffed and dashed his hands across his eyes, spreading more dirt across his face. Looking up at his mother he said, "I know. But it's not fair!" He took a deep breath and said sadly, "Can we bury the bird outside?"

"Of course. We'll lay it to rest under the tree in the back. Will that be okay?" As Hunith stood, she said, "Wrap the bird in that bit of cloth, and we'll go bury it right now."

Merlin picked up the bird and as he was getting ready to wrap the cloth around the tiny body, he ran a gentle finger over the robin's breast and said, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I wish I could, so you could fly away with your mama."

Hunith was watching her small son when something wondrous occurred. As Merlin was speaking, a soft amber glow appeared around his small hands and encased the bird in a clear, bright light. The light was gone in a flash and Merlin was left holding the robin, which was now clean and healed and chirping merrily, anxious to be released and fly away.

Merlin looked at his mother with wonder in his eyes and breathed, "What happened, Mama? Look, the bird is better! Was that me?"

Hunith stared at her son, with tears in her eyes and her hand over her mouth. She knew what had happened: Her son had magic! She had suspected it, of course, from the little things that had happened almost from the day Merlin was born. She had never been sure if that was so very unusual or not, given that these days most people did not talk about magic except in hushed undertones. But this? She was quite certain that this type of power at such a young age was well out of the ordinary.

"Mama, what's wrong? Don't cry. See, the bird is better!" laughed Merlin as he opened his hands and watched it fly through the door and out into the world.

"Oh, Merlin, come here my love," said Hunith as she knelt on the floor and opened her arms wide.

Merlin came running over, smiling broadly, and sat in his mother's lap, quite content to be there with her arms tight around him.

"Merlin, you must listen to me. Yes, it was you who made the bird better. But you must not tell anyone what you just did. You have magic, but no one can know. It must be our secret at the moment. Do you understand?"

Merlin looked up at his mother and seeing the very concerned look on her face said, "Yes Mama. I understand. But why can't I tell anyone?"

"Sweetheart, things may be different when you're older, but right now some bad people don't like magic and they might take you away from me if they saw you using it, so for now we'll have to keep this our little secret, okay?"

"Okay Mama," answered Merlin, very seriously.

Hunith released her tight grasp on her son and with a smile said, "Now, please go wash your hands and your face. It's almost time for dinner, and you are absolutely filthy!"

Merlin smiled up at his mother, gave her a kiss on the cheek and ran over to the wash basin to clean up.

Hunith watched her son with a heavy heart. She had always known that her son was special, but just how special was now evident. She was going to have to be vigilant to ensure that he grew up in safety. But seeing Merlin at this moment, splashing water around in a vague attempt to get clean, all she could think was, "My little love, you are so like your father; if only he could see you."


End file.
